pc-doctor smart self test fails on primary hard disk

[Guest]

All the other hard disc diagnostics worked when I ran PC-Doctor and only the
smart self test failed. Could this explain why my system hangs during the
bootup process just after the Windows XP logo shows. The system also hangs
in SAFE mode and all other standard recovery procedures also hang the same
way. Disc diagnostics say that the hard disc supports smartdrive so I don't
know why the smart self test fails. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

All the other hard disc diagnostics worked when I ran PC-Doctor and
only the smart self test failed. Could this explain why my system
hangs during the bootup process just after the Windows XP logo
shows. The system also hangs in SAFE mode and all other standard
recovery procedures also hang the same way. Disc diagnostics say
that the hard disc supports smartdrive so I don't know why the
smart self test fails. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

I believe that test is probably speaking of the S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring,
Analysis and Reporting Technology) stuff.
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/perf/qual/featuresSMART-c.html

Personally - I find this usually unreliable. Not that it probably wouldn't
warn you of imminent issues - but the random reboot and data loss probably
already has when S.M.A.R.T. kicks in to tell you - in my experience. I'm
sure it has saved data - so leave it on and if it tells you something is
wrong - PLEASE listen to it and backup THEN.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?p=216193&sid=ff1be19c1625ed8db0707b5245bfbf09

As you can see above - it does not seem uncommon for the smart to fail in PC
Doctor. What matters is if S.M.A.R.T. starts to warn you about failure *if*
you have it enabled in the BIOS.